The Count
by Get Keen
Summary: A jealous Adrien Agreste gets unexpectedly akumatised, but how will a holder of a Miraculous be affected by an evil little butterfly? One-Shot.


**Chat–pter 1**

Adrien Agreste had had enough.

He had spent the _entire_ afternoon listening to the simpering, shameless flirting of one Francoer Julliard, and it was driving him insane. He knew the boy well enough to not have been surprised by this behaviour, heck, he was expecting it. The _problem,_ the blond model thought, was the object of his attention. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was blushing furiously at the advances the brunette boy next to her was making. Her face was quickly approaching a shade that could rival the outfit of one half of France's beloved superhero duo. Adrien grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, gaining a snicker from his grinning friend, Nino.

The young model gave him an unimpressed glare, to which the darker-skinned boy merely raised his eyebrows knowingly. Adrien sighed and sank further into his chair, wishing he could just fuse with it and remain an inanimate object for the rest of his life. It would definitely be much easier than trying to come to terms with his newly developed crush on the flushed bluenette sitting in the row behind him. Marinette was quite possibly the loveliest girl Adrien had ever had the pleasure of meeting in his young life. She was pretty for sure, but it was the inner beauty and goodness that she possessed that really made her stand out. He was only surprised it had taken him so long to notice it.

Adrien shifted in his seat, instead choosing to bury his head in the gap between his folded arms on the desk in front of him. He groaned into this little pocket of safety he had created for himself, the muffled sound bringing yet another sympathetic chuckle from his friend beside him. The problem was that, up until recently, Adrien had been certain his heart had belonged to another. And not just anyone; he had been in love with the one and only Ladybug, superheroine of Paris. Now there is no denying that _that_ is a crush that may seem impossible to pursue for the average bystander. However, it was not quite so hard for Adrien as one may expect. For, by night, he patrolled Paris alongside his Ladybug, as her fearless companion and protector, Chat Noir. The two made a wonderful team indeed, but Ladybug had made it clear that their relationship would remain strictly platonic for the foreseeable future. Maybe that's why his little crush on his classmate had developed? _Ugh,_ Adrien didn't want to think about his complicated feelings, more important issues were at hand…and occurring only a meter behind him.

Now Adrien would not exactly call Francoer a _friend,_ per se, he was more of an acquaintance. The two boys had modelled together on a couple of projects Adrien's father, renowned designer: Gabriel Agreste, had conducted and they had gotten on well enough. The brunette seemed bearable, for someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and was all-in-all not a bad person. He could just be a little… _misguided_ at times. This was why Gabriel Agreste had felt it appropriate for his son to be Monsieur Julliard's tour guide and first friend at his new school, College Francois DuPont. _Adrien's_ school. Adrien had nodded and forced a smile, nothing new there when speaking with his estranged father, and been the good, little boy everyone knew him to be when he agreed to the task. Now though, he was cursing his own need to please.

He'd had no idea that out of _all_ the girls in their class, the other model would have been drawn to Marinette. He honestly would have thought that Chloe Bourgeois would have been more his type: blonde, rich and (even Adrien would admit) arrogant. That was a no go though, Francoer had immediately homed in on Marinette like a moth to a flame. _Whoops,_ Adrien shuddered slightly at the analogy, thinking of the butterfly-themed supervillain he and Ladybug battled on an almost daily basis, _that one was a bit too close for comfort._

Adrien's hidden scowl deepened as he listened to the boy flirting shamelessly with the shy girl and, what made it worse (according to Adrien), was the fact that she was doing absolutely _nothing_ about it. He would have thought she would at _least_ politely ask him to stop or, at the most extreme, simply run away from the model and his suggestive comments. That idea wasn't too far-fetched. In fact, Marinette did it quite frequently…whenever Adrien tried to speak to her. _It's just not fair,_ Adrien thought indignantly, raising his head slightly to glare at the light wood desk in front of him, _All I've ever wanted was to have a simple conversation with her and she bolts. But when_ he _doesn't even hide his intentions, she doesn't do a_ thing! _Not a single thing._ Normally, Adrien would have come to the conclusion that Marinette simply did not want anything to do with him. It was a sad thought yes, but he had already experienced the feeling of rejection before and it was not new to him. The difference this time though, was the fact that there was a _physical object_ standing in the way of him and his crush. One that he could identify and maybe even do something about.

 _No more laying down and letting people trample over you to get what they want Adrien,_ he thought to himself, suddenly bolting upright and scaring the living daylights out of Nino, _you want to at least give it a try with Marinette, and you_ will _get that chance_! There was a new determination sparkling in the teen's green eyes that was reminiscent of that of his feline alter ego. The classroom was filled with lively chattering as the students waited for their teacher, but Madame Bustier was already late and it didn't seem that she would be making her entrance in the near future. Perhaps the principal had called her in to discuss the initiation of new protective measures against the frequent akuma attacks that the school was victim to. Whatever the case, this delay gave Adrien all the time he needed to stand up decisively and spin around to face the two teens sitting directly behind him. Francoer had forced Marinette and her best friend, Alya, to squish against each other on their small bench, so that he could take a seat next to the blue-eyed girl who was craning as far away from him as she possibly could in the limited space. Alya snickered at her friend and at the obliviousness she had come to expect from Adrien when he didn't notice such a crucial social cue.

"What's the matter, Adrikins?" Francoer smiled innocently up at the blond, batting his long eyelashes sweetly. The moment he had heard Chloe call out the dreaded nickname he had adopted it for his own straight away and had been teasing Adrien mercilessly throughout the entire morning. Marinette herself, was torn between snorting with laughter at its misplaced use, and glowering at the boy who had used it, much like Adrien was doing at that very moment.

"Francoer, I think Marinette would prefer if you give her some personal space. You've been bombarding her nonstop with your lame pickup lines ever since you met her this morning," Marinette had never seen Adrien so sombre. Like ever. Well, his father was Gabriel Agreste, no doubt he'd learnt a thing or two from him in the fifteen years he'd spent under his roof. Looking at him now, with his disapproving glare, he was a spitting image of his father for sure. It was weird to see her kind, thoughtful crush with an expression so unfitting for his soft face, and she wished Francoer would listen to him, for both of their sakes. She had in fact, had more than enough of the model's advances to last her an entire lifetime. She laughed internally when she realised she'd take Chat Noir's puns over Francoer's any day. _That_ was something she never thought she'd admit to. The truth was, she was not interested in the brunette, in spite of the fact that he was incredibly good-looking. No, the object of her affection was glaring at the other model with a vehemence Marinette didn't think he was capable of.

"Like _you_ could do better, Adri- _honey_ ," he accentuated the last word, "And besides, it's not like I'm doing something Mari doesn't _want_ , right?" Francoer winked at the girl and threw an arm around her shoulders, making her flush even further, much to Alya's amusement. Adrien, however, found that far from funny. Such a gesture of familiarity deeply offended the gentleman in him when it was used within a few hours of meeting the girl. That, and the nickname that he had worked so hard in getting to know her well enough that he felt he'd be able to even use it. _He_ should be the one who could throw a casual arm around Marinette, having it mean so much more than a mere gesture of friendship; who could call her by her adorable nickname and get a light pink dust rising on the tip of her nose and her cheeks as a result. Having another boy, especially one so arrogant in claiming it, do that instead was almost too much for Adrien to handle.

"I mean, I think Marinette can speak for herself," Francoer tightened his arm around the poor girl and drew her closer to his side.

He looked at her with a smug smile, "Isn't that right, _Princess?_ "

Adrien froze as the last word oozed from Francoer's lips. That was not okay. That nickname was what _he_ had come up with for Marinette during the whole fiasco with the Evillustrator. Chat Noir used it constantly when talking to the girl of mixed descent, and it had stuck. It seemed to have grown on her as well. Adrien looked at Marinette now, gaping at the model as if he were…

Oh no. There was no _way_ Marinette thought that, that… _Francoer_ was Chat Noir. The blonde could practically feel the heat rising from underneath his designer collar. He shouldn't be getting like this, he was Adrien Agreste, goody-two shoes, conflict-disperser, mediator. He didn't start fights, he _prevented_ them. But now, oh now, Francoer was getting to him like no one else had ever gotten to him before. He imagined his manicured fingers curled into a fist connecting oh so satisfactorily with the simpering face of the pretty boy in front of him. This thought was so unlike him it almost shocked him out of his rage-induced state. Almost. Instead he imagined Francoer kissing his Princess' hand, _like he did_ ; lifting her into his arms and carrying her bridal style, _like he did_ ; his lips pressing into hers, _while his ached to._

Adrien was too busy stewing in his anger, his face growing slowly but steadily redder, to notice the unassuming butterfly that had fluttered into the classroom through the window. The other classmates, too engrossed in their own conversations, were also oblivious to the bruised insect's entry, although they all knew full well what it would mean. Even Marinette, who had seen more than her fair share of akumas to last her lifetime, was too busy engrossed in trying to reconcile the entirely too-pleased-with-himself Francoer to her pun-cracking, akuma-fighting partner to see how the butterfly gradually made its way to the livid boy standing confrontationally in front of her desk. It was actually the aforementioned brunette who saw it first. Francoer wrinkled his nose in confusion at the oddly coloured insect and pointed to where it was just approaching Adrien's wrist, where Marinette's lucky bracelet was carefully fastened. The movement of his hand drew the girl's eyes to where he was gesturing and when she saw the agent of Hawkmoth about to land on the bracelet, she let out an unearthly shriek and leapt to her feet. Adrien, startled out of his funk, raised his hands to his chest reflexively, making the butterfly work harder to reach its target.

At this point, everyone was looking to Marinette in confusion and fear, but when they saw where her shriek was directed at, the energy in the small room increased one hundred-fold as they too became aware of what was about to happen. The students were frozen in fear as they watched and waited for the inevitable. Adrien, confused at the fearful looks his peers were giving him, looked down at his hands, only to see the butterfly too late to react. Even his cat-like reflexes were not enough to save him at this point. The akuma landed on Marinette's bracelet and was absorbed in a flurry of dark energy. Adrien looked up at the bluenette, fear in his eyes. Not for himself, but for his fellow classmates, and more importantly, her. He felt the dark particles that had begun to transform him before he saw them start to form and glisten around his wrist, covering his hand and creeping up his arm.

With a clarity surprising for his circumstance he grabbed Marinette's shoulder with his free hand and looked earnestly into her eyes.

"Marinette, get everyone out of the school and to safety. I know you're friends with Ladybug so try to contact her as soon as possible…I don't want to -," Adrien was cut off by Francoer's shout ringing through the classroom.

"What is _happening_ here?! Adrien, what the _hell!_ "

" _You shut your mouth. This is all your fault!"_ Adrien hissed uncharacteristically at the boy, who cowered back and seemed to try to hide behind Marinette. A glance into the girl's eyes told Adrien that he was losing control fast, and brought him back to his senses long enough to see the small, but determined nod the girl gave him while her bluebell eyes were welling with tears. His heart broke at the sight, and he looked down at himself again, to see that the dark matter had made its way up to his neck.

He looked up at Marinette one last time before the darkness overtook his vision, "I'll be back soon," he whispered.

Adrien felt the darkness dematerialize, but stood with his eyes shut tightly, not wanting to look at the monster he had become. He was waiting for the evilness of the akuma's possession to take root in his mind; for Hawkmoth's voice to attempt to sweet talk him into doing his bidding. He waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened.

"K-kid?" a voice that he recognised as belonging to his kwami, Plagg, rang out hesitantly. The room must be empty for him to have shown himself. _That must mean that Marinette got everyone out safely,_ he thought with a sigh. Adrien chuckled, giddy with relief. He had also never heard lazy, cocky Plagg sound so unsure of himself.

"Oh no," the cat-like kwami sounded distraught, much to Adrien's surprise, "he's gone."

"No!" Adrien snarled unintentionally, his eyes snapping open and a gloved hand reaching out to snatch the creature out of the air. Plagg let loose with a very catty yowl and struggled against the boy's grip. The kwami glared up at him and hissed loudly.

Adrien tried again, "Plagg! I-I'm sorry for scaring you, I –"

"Adrien?" the kwami interjected with wide eyes, and Adrien nodded as he breathed a sigh of relief. He loosened his grip and the diminutive god of destruction flew out of his hands and crashed into his cheek so hard he almost lost his balance. Adrien was astounded to feel the soft, fur-covered cheek of his kwami nuzzle into his own.

"You tell anyone about this, and I will destroy you," Plagg said nonchalantly as he continued filling his affection quota for the century. Adrien chuckled again and cupped him in his hands, returning the nuzzle. When Plagg was satisfied that his Chosen had not been transformed into a vengeful beast, he flew back a short distance to take in Adrien's new appearance. He gave a low whistle, prompting Adrien to look down at himself as well.

The akumatised teen was clothed head to toe in a black suit, reminiscent of what he wore when transformed into Chat Noir, except for the fact that this suit was accessorized by an ankle-length black cape, and lacked the trademark tail and ears that Chat was so proud of. He wore sleek, knee-high boots and his blonde hair was slicked back, while an ornate black eye mask with gold trimming adorned the upper half of his face. When the boy walked up to a classroom window to better see his reflection, he could see that his eyes were glowing an eerie, luminescent green and his pupils had become slits. When he opened his mouth, he saw that a set of upper and lower fangs had been added to his pearly whites and the boy grumbled at the sight.

"Why do I look like a vampire from a cheesy romance novel?" he raised a, slightly darker, more angled eyebrow at Plagg who only burst into unsympathetic laughter at the boy's grumblings.

When the kwami had calmed down enough to speak, he addressed Adrien, "Maybe you're supposed to be a Prince or something? I mean, you got all worked up over someone else calling that black-haired girl 'Princess', right? Hot-head." This last part was muttered good-naturedly under the kwami's breath, but Adrien heard him. He was too busy slamming his forehead against the window he had been staring into to be offended, though.

"You're right Plagg," he groaned, when the kwami had to physically intervene in his self-abuse, "I was jealous of Francoer. That's why the akuma targeted me."

"Not following you kid."

Adrien groaned again, wanting to knock some more sense into himself, "Don't you get it? A vampire is a legendary monster. I'm a literal _Green-Eyed Monster_."

Plagg's little pink mouth curved into an "o" and, for a brief moment, Adrien thought he was going to get some sympathy from the little creature.

After a beat, the kwami doubled over with laughter for the second time in five minutes and Adrien was left scowling. He should have known better.

Adrien leaned against the window, the unimpressed look on his face definitely giving him a "Dracula-esque" air, and waited for his companion to calm down. Again.

Plagg did after a short while and wiped imaginary tears of mirth from his green eyes before flitting over to Adrien's ring when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing looked out of the ordinary with the Miraculous, but he strongly suspected that the boy was not going to be able to transform into Chat Noir as long as the akuma was blackening Marinette's lucky bracelet.

Adrien looked at him quizzically when he darted up to his face.

"You know, kid. You may be you, but you definitely sounded like an akuma earlier," Plagg said this carefully, not wanting to worry the boy. Adrien stiffened and the cat sighed, so much for that.

"Look, I'm not saying you _are_ an akuma or anything. I can see that you're fine, even though your eyes are creeping me out a little," he teased, "What I meant was that chuckle and downright _snarl_ earlier? Very akuma of you."

Adrien rubbed his neck sheepishly, and cast his luminescent eyes to the ground.

"That dark energy is still around you. Not enough to influence you, but it is there," Plagg continued, "So I say we find Ladybug and get her to purify the akuma as soon as possible and then we can all get on with our lives. Me with my camembert, and you with your equally cheesy love story."

Adrien laughed at this, the sound coming out more super-villainy than he had intended, but Plagg understood and even allowed himself a small smirk. Yes, he had punned. And no, he did not regret it in the slightest, if his Chosen's genuine, beaming (if fanged) grin was anything to go by. And no, no one would ever learn of his affection for the kid, not even the kid himself, if he could help it.

"Okay Plagg, grab on!" Adrien held his cape open to reveal a velvety pocket on the inside that Plagg could fit into nicely. The cat kwami darted in and the duo dashed off into the sunny, Parisian afternoon.

"I've been waiting on this rooftop for _ages,_ Plagg!" Adrien whined and drew patterns in his splayed-out cape with a manicured fingernail. He was sprawled out rather unceremoniously on the top of a flat rooftop near the Eiffel Tower, waiting for his partner to make her long-awaited appearance. Plagg, who was basking in the afternoon sun next to him, cracked open an eye and gave the teen a lazy stare. Grumbling at being so rudely awoken from his cat nap, he raised himself into the air and dragged his little paws down his face, the kid had a point. They had been on the rooftop for at least twenty minutes and there was no sign of Ladybug anywhere. He stared out at the Eiffel Tower, deep in thought, for a few moments before the answer came to him.

"I know what the problem is here, Adrien," Plagg flew down to be level with the boy's face and addressed him, "You haven't _done_ anything."

Adrien cocked his head in a very cat-like gesture, "Huh?"

"You haven't _really_ been akumatised, so you haven't felt the need to go around doing evil things! And _how_ do you and Ladybug usually track down an akuma?"

Adrien's face paled when he realised what Plagg was getting at.

"We…follow its path of destruction," the poor boy squeaked.

Plagg nodded grimly, "Exactly. Now I hate to ask this of you, kid, but –."

"I know what I have to do," Adrien said solemnly, as he got to his feet, "But I am _not_ putting anyone in any danger."

"Wouldn't have expected any less from you kid," Plagg winked at him, "You don't even need to break anything, just the sight of you in public should cause a mass panic and bring out that 'Ladyblogger' girl."

Adrien laughed, more than a little relieved to hear that, "Gee thanks," he pretended to be offended, "and you're talking about Alya."

"Whatever," Plagg said non-committally as he dove into Adrien's cape pocket once more, "Let's go cause some chaos."

"When I said chaos kid, I didn't mean _this_ ," Plagg grumbled from said kid's cape pocket as yet another woman swooned in Adrien's arms while he dipped her gracefully to the ground. The kid brought his bared fangs to her neck and challenged the woman's boyfriend with his luminescent, green eyes. The man was absolutely _fuming_ with rage and Adrien gave him a cheeky grin before lowering the woman gently to the ground and then marching forward to confront him.

"What did you do to her?!" he demanded, to which the akumatised-boy gave a smirk that would have made Chat Noir proud.

"That's not the question you should be asking," he sing-songed, "The _real_ question is, what's _he_ doing to her?" He jabbed a dark-gloved thumb at a concerned passer-by who was gently shaking the dazed woman by the shoulders, nervously glancing at the new villain every few seconds.

 _He's brave,_ Adrien thought sadly. The boy resisted the urge to shake his head at his actions and continued playing the part, he didn't take acting classes for nothing after all.

The enraged man's eyes began to glow a toxic green as he charged for the poor boy who was merely trying to help. Not prepared for the shouting match that was being loaded onto him, he yelped and started backing away. The man gave chase, his partner laying sleepily, and forgotten, on the pavement behind him.

Adrien sighed now that he didn't have an audience and held open his cape so that Plagg could fly out.

The kwami hovered in front of his face and simply raised an eyebrow at the _street_ full of unconscious females behind them. Adrien opened his mouth to speak but the cat beat him to it.

"I am _so_ judging you right now."

Adrien couldn't hold back a snort of unattractive laughter, and Plagg grinned slightly, "It had to be fitting to the situation, right?" The blonde boy smiled back, feeling slightly better about himself. He had managed not to hurt anyone, and none of the enraged boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands and wives had hurt each other or themselves. He had made sure of that. Honestly, it was like looking after a group of jealous, stubborn toddlers. But then again, he supposed that was the point of his akumatised power.

Plagg gained an unusually thoughtful look on his face, "I wonder what Hawkmoth is thinking right now?"

Adrien paled slightly, not that one would notice due to his newly ethereal pallor, at the thought. But, he then shook his head, Chat Noir's bravado starting to shine through, "It doesn't matter Plagg. Akuma's have gotten out of his control before, right? And besides, we all thought Miraculous holders _couldn't_ get akumatised, so this should leave me in the clear later along the line, anyway."

Plagg nodded his head, "You talk sense kid. Okay," he clapped his paws together decisively, "Now where the _hell_ is –"

"ADRIEN!" A loud shout cut the kwami off and he dashed for Adrien's cape pocket, the boy wrapping it tightly around himself comically and hoping whoever had called his name just thought that talking to a magical, floating animal was normal for this akuma.

Adrien groaned inwardly when he saw that Alya, red-faced and distraught was running towards him, phone complete with its Ladybug accent in one hand. Then, he groaned again when he saw that Nino was following close behind her, calling her to get away from the akumatised teen. Then, he resisted the urge to face-palm when he realised that he was going to have to use his new powers (gross) on two of his best friends. He heard what sounded suspiciously like an evil chuckle from the inside of his black cape as Plagg caught on to the situation as well and glared at the pocket housing his terribly insensitive kwami. Oh well, at least it put him in the right mood for where _this_ headache would no doubt end up.

"ADRIEN!" Alya called again as she neared, her pace slowing, "STOP! YOU DON'T –"

Adrien swooped towards her with unnatural speed and swept her into his arms gracefully, his cape swirling dramatically around the two (three, if you count Plagg, and Adrien definitely didn't want to at the moment) of them and creating a dramatic, film-like aesthetic.

"I don't – _what,_ beautiful," he purred while he cringed on the inside. _Nino is going to_ murder _me when all this is over._ To his surprise, instead of fainting happily, Alya merely flushed a deep crimson. It was still an effect, but she was clearly strong-willed.

 _Or in love,_ Adrien pondered as his narrow eyes flicked lazily to where Nino was standing with his jaw on the floor and green embers in his dark irises.

"Y-you," _oh heavens, when did she turn into Marinette,_ "You d-don't have t-to do this!" They gave her some trouble, but Alya managed to get the words out before gazing at Adrien defiantly. The effect was ruined by her trembling lips and tomato face that showed up clearly in spite of her dark complexion, but Adrien was proud of his friend's bravery. He couldn't help the gentle smile that pulled at the corners of his lips, but he supposed it looked more sinister thanks to his akuma-ness, because Alya – _Alya – g_ ave a little 'eep' and tried to wriggle out of his grip.

" _Adrien!"_ a furious, distinctly male voice rang out over the already roaring noise in the street. _Good grief._

He turned to his best friend with the now sinister smirk on his face and threw his arms wide, subtly letting Alya escape his grasp so that she could run to Nino for safety. Adrien's eyes sparkled with a distinctly feline mischievousness as he observed the not-couple. He would give Nino hell for this if he was still speaking to him tomorrow.

"Nino, welcome to the party!" he let the genuine friendliness in his voice get distorted by his newly-acquired villainy and it came out more mocking than anything. Now though, he was at a loss for what to say next. The green-tint in his bespectacled friend's eyes dissipated after a few moments, confusion taking over as he stared at the speechless akuma before him. 

"Uhh…"

 _"_ _Talk about the Miraculous'!"_ A disembodied voice hissed from his cape and Adrien snapped back into actor mode.

"You have not perchance seen our lovely superheroine leaping about have you, my dear friends?" Adrien launched into his character, hamming it up a bit for his two shaken friends before him. He stepped elegantly closer to them and Nino reflexively pushed Alya further behind him. Adrien opened his mouth to continue, but not before hearing Alya (who had fully recovered) whisper, " _Did he get_ taller _?"_

Adrien wilted slightly, glowering at the girl who flinched and shrunk further behind Nino's back. The masked boy recovered quickly and continued, however, sweeping a hand over his slicked back hair as he did so, "I merely wish to admire her exquisite taste in jewellery, you see."

He bent over slightly, to get right up in Nino's face (and realised, at the back of his mind, that he _was_ in fact taller) and said venomously, "And what about the _cat._ He has surely been poking his whiskers where they do not belong?"

An unnoticed, "Harsh" came from the villain's cape at this last sentence.

"He's right here, pretty boy!" A new voice rang out over the scene, making the akumatised Adrien whip around in shock, his cape slapping Nino in the face and earning a low growl.

 _No. That's…impossible!_

Chat Noir, in all his leather-clad glory, was standing on a rooftop opposite the trio, with a furiously blushing Ladybug at his side.

"Adrien!" Plagg whacked his Chosen none-too-gently from his cape pocket and hissed at him. The boy wasn't listening however, his golden locks seeming to bristle like a cat's with barely-contained rage, luminous green eyes fierce. His fangs were bared at the Chat Noir impostor and his hands were curled at his side, held as if they were claws. Plagg would point out the irony of the situation later.

" _Adrien!"_ he hissed, louder this time. The slight interference with his moral compass the akuma had on his Chosen was showing now. Luckily, before he could go full beast mode, the boy seemed to come to his senses and the fire in his slit eyes died down slightly, as he looked to his chest in confusion. A look of realisation dawned on his face and Plagg's suspicions were confirmed, he had forgotten that he was there. The kwami rolled his eyes and spoke softer again, now that he finally had Adrien's attention.

" _It's another akuma."_

"What?!" Adrien snarled, the fire leaping to life in his eyes again. Another Copycat! How dare this impostor fight _him!_ When _he,_ not Adrien, was the real akuma in the first place! Everyone on the scene, with the exception of Plagg, winced at the vehemence in his voice.

" _Get away from Ladybug!"_ he was suddenly barrelling towards the fake Chat and grabbed him by the shoulders. The cat-suited boy yelped and lost grip on his metal rod.

Adrien didn't falter. With a simple, "The mask" from Plagg, the akumatised boy ripped the eye wear off the fake's head, who immediately covered his face, and dangled it triumphantly above the teen. Ignoring the shriek of, "Chat!" from Ladybug, Adrien ripped the mask in two and released, much to the shock and horror of their sane onlookers, a dark purple butterfly that flapped frantically to get away from the disaster it had created.

While Ladybug, who was professional enough to capture it in her yo-yo before it got away in spite of her shock, looked on, the classic dark particles bubbled over the Chat impostor to reveal none other than – Francoer Julliard.

She allowed herself a quick sigh of relief before she was interrupted by an inhuman roar.

" _You!"_ Adrien's pupils had narrowed into slits and the air around him seemed to darken. He grabbed the disoriented Francoer by the collar and lifted him into the air, feet dangling as he glared into his handsome face. The confusion in the boy's eyes quickly turned to fear as the figure loomed over him menacingly, very real fangs glinting in the afternoon sunlight.

"Wh-what the – What?"

" _Shut. Up._ Francoer! This is all your fault! _What have you done with Marinette?!"_ Adrien roared into his face, spit droplets spattering the brunette teen's forehead. Marinette? Why -? He hadn't seen her since…

What had happened? He remembered being furious at how he'd been humiliated in front of the cute bluenette. But then…nothing. Adrien had – wait…

" _Adrien?"_ his mouth fell open at the monster that still held him by his collar, his face contorted with rage and jealousy, fluorescent green eyes glowing eerily as his pupils had been narrowed into reptilian slits. The monster threw his head back and laughed humourlessly before he looked back down at the terrified teen that was currently at his mercy.

"Bingo, genius! Adrien Agreste, always putting himself last! Goody-goody prince of Francois duPont high! Well, no more," his voice lowered into a growl that rumbled wonderfully at the back of his throat, "I am _The Count_! And soon Francoer, you will feel what _I_ felt when you had your greasy paws all over _my_ Princess!"

Ladybug, Alya and Nino could only look on at the disaster unfurling before them, struck speechless by Adrien's words. It seems that he had gotten akumatised – over Marinette.

Plagg, meanwhile, was quietly panicking inside Adrien's cape pocket. The kid was losing it fast and, if _he_ didn't act fast, his Chosen would soon do something he'd regret. But, he risked the chance of outing Adrien if he suddenly decided to burst out of his chest like an alien puppet from a bad sci-fi movie. Seeing his kid's fangs grow closer and closer to the idiot kid's throat, Plagg realised that he did _not_ want to deal with the guilty looks a sulky, self-loathing Adrien would be giving him for weeks, if not months, to come if he let him take a chunk out of one of his classmates.

Decision made, Plagg whipped out of Adrien's cape and came to a stop in between the two boys' faces, his back to Francoer. Adrien jerked to a stop, the movement loosening his grip enough on the boy to let him twist out of it and scramble towards Ladybug, who's jaw was touching the floor. Plagg folded his arms and glared fiercely at his kid. Adrien could only stare back, venom gone from his gaze and his eyes blinking slowly, as if he was trying to remember who the kwami was.

Figuring that it would be best to speed things up a bit, Plagg flew upwards and gave Adrien a (hard) bop on the head with both paws curled into fists. The boy's jaws snapped shut so quickly at the force behind the blow that it seemed he had bitten his tongue in the process. All anger leaked from his face now, Adrien whimpered and let out a pitiful, "Ow," as he rubbed his head with one hand, tongue lolling slightly out the side of his mouth.

Plagg tried to stay angry at the fact that Adrien had almost become a _real_ akuma, but the fact was that he was so relieved that the kid _hadn't_ , he couldn't find it in him to even pretend.

"What an idiot," the cat kwami settled for with a huff and turned his back to his Chosen, both parties oblivious to their gobsmacked audience.

"I-I'm so sorry, Plagg," Adrien's voice sounded so penitent that the cat had to turn around slightly, "Thank you." The boy gave him a smile that shone like the sun and Plagg had to turn around with a sniff, lest he ruin his reputation.

"Whatever, kid. I don't wanna know how you'd turn out without me," he let out a yelp as a gloved hand drew him to a grateful, if slightly cold, cheek, but allowed himself to relax into his Chosen's cuddle, "You're such a tsundere, you know that?" Adrien gave him a knowing smirk and Plagg just rolled his eyes and squirmed away.

"A-Adrien?" An uncharacteristically stuttering Ladybug broke the odd moment between boy and magical creature, and they looked to her as one.

"Shit."

 _FIN._


End file.
